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Tunnel Rats!
Cavernous Foyer The large cavernous room seems untouched from the Debris overhaul. Whether running out of supplies or time, this room is mainly still as is with minor additions such as the intimidating blast doors south to the Command Center or the Communications Hub's doorway to the east. A rocky tunnel leads west to another room of catacombs, containing the railcar transportation system to Iahex. The wide expanse of Debris' ground floor, or would that be bottom floor? Either way, a wide variety of Autobot is collected here for reasons Impactor didn't make evident beforehand. The Wrecker Leader paces around nervously, his arms folded in front of his chest plate and a concerned agitation on his grim demeanor. "Lissen' up Bots. I ain't gonna sugar coat this fer ya, we're in over our heads ... no pun intended. The Decepticons are makin' their big push, and we gotta push back! To properly do so, we gots ta git a series of tunnels up and workin' ... givin' us easier access to tha surface, plus makin' damn sure Debris stays off their radar. Any questions??" "Means us have dig!" Grimlock says, at which point he tromps over and taptaptaps experimentally at the wall, the metal-on-metal ringing out over the cavernous chamber. "Hhhng. You know where us s'posed to be goings?" Foxfire is sitting on his haunches near the others, watching as Impactor pacings. He muses for a moment at Grimlock's words, then raises a front paw, like a student wanting to ask a question. "I'm good at digging holes!" he declares. "That has to count for something, right?" He's a canine, after all. Twin Twist says, "I would prefer to be busting heads of some decepti-chumps, but If my drill can be of use boss I'm all in." Highlight scratches at the back of his head, visibly unsure of what someone like him could do in his situation. After all, making a bunch of flowers appear out of thin air probably wouldn't have much geological significance. Noting Twin Twist's enthusiasm, Highlight cocks his head to the side and follows suit with a raise of his hand as well, "Yeah... digging? Drilling? Not quite my areas of expertise, but I dunno -- you guys want anything to drink or something?" "No drinks! Get shovel!" Grimlock growls in Highlight's general direction. "Yes Grim, that means we're gonna have to do tha grunt werk. Rodimus said keep it simple, we're gonna be needin' some supplies from Iahex ... so's I figure that's our first stop." Impactor replies, sizing up the cassettebot. "Can ya handle a hand drill, ya know ... without apposable thumbs?" "Do I want something to drink? Something?" Impactor growls, stalking straight up to the Autobot with a pissed off look in his optic. "If I wanted somethin' ta drink, I'd have called in a servbot. Soldier, what's yer rank and specialtah??" A somewhat cocky smirk crosses Foxfire's muzzle. "I can handle bombs without thumbs. I think I can handle a drill." Highlight's optics go wide as Impactor lumbers forward. His joke had obviously not hit the way it was meant to as he straightened his posture, "Apologies, sir! Level-one infantry, bottom of the barrel, sir!" "Apologies am TERRIBLE soldier name!" Grimlock notes- not without a bit of laughter in his voice, it's worth noting. He hmms, and glances down at Foxfire, next. "You! Start diggings n' stuff!" he points- and then to Twin Twist, next. "Wait- am you one that turn into drill or turn into boat?" Foxfire looks up at Highlight, then to Impactor, and points a forepaw at the former. "His name is Highlight." "They teach ya how ta smart off in the regular, or is that somethin' ya picked up along the way?" Impactor shouts, pratically foaming at the mouth ... ya know, if Cybertronians had saliva to foam with. "Hell, yer not even worth half a Jumpstarter ... and they're already half a Bot! Now ya think you can cut the wit and git yer aft to werk soldier??" he continues, allowing Grimlock to dispense with the doling out of duties in the meantime. Twin Twist says, "Yes sir Grimlock sir. I'm Twin Twist the Jumpstarter Drill tank." Highlight lets out a sigh of relief at Foxfire's subtle attempt at mediation. Bearing Impactor's gruff orders, Highlight quickly nods and scans around for a nearby shovel. "Didn't mean to mouth off, sir," Highlight said genuinely, "But the way things are right now, I just thought maybe a small joke... or a good laugh... y'know, what? How's about I just start digging?" And with that, the Autobot showman is back to the grind of manual labor... "Sounds fantastic joker, why don't ya do that." Impactor adds, walking away from Highlight and back towards Grimlock. He gives him a nod and facial expression that reads 'kids, am I right?' "Now if socializin' is over with, we gotta job ta do Bots. Make way fer me 'n Twin Twist, we'll drill ahead. You guys follow in after makin' sure ta clear tha rubble outta pathways. Grim, if ya'd be so kindly as ta keep 'em on point from tha rear. Much appreciated." Without another word, Impactor transforms into his alternative mode and bores ahead into the tunnel. Folding down upon himself, Impactor transforms back into his Drill Tank mode. Twin Twist following Impactor's orders Twin Twist snaps into his drill tank mode and follows his wrecker commander. Twin Twist transforms into his Drill Tank mode. Grimlock hnfs. "Me Grimlock hate being in back!" But, given that he transforms into a totally awesome dinosaur instead of a set of treads with a drill at the end, he'll have to manage. Still, the dinocommander follows suit- transforming to his dinosaur mode, at which point he pushes a large pile of rubble out of the way with his massive tail, as easily as a child might dig around in a sandbox! He hmms, and glares at Foxfire & Highlight. "Whut you waitings for?" With a grunt and a growl, Grimlock changes into a robot T-rex! Watch out. Highlight blinks at Grimlock and nods again, quickly leaning down to shovel some rubble out of the way. This wasn't exactly what he had planned for the day, but desperate times call for desperate measures. Glancing over at Foxfire, Highlight eked out a grin as he kicked a few stones away from him, "Question, sir -- you a Sinatra fan, or a Dino lover? I take requests, y'know." Foxfire blinks and proceeds to dig like only a canine can. "What'd'ya mean, 'Dino'?" <> Impactor cautions, boring away into Cybertron's soft and supple 'soil'. Which begs the question, why do Drill Tanks have windshields ... and wouldn't they be called something like dirtshields or groundshields? Furthermore, it's not like someone would want to look out of one as it's hurtling through the ground. Drill Tank "Yes sir," Twin Twist yells as he repositions himself do stay In Impactor's dirt wake. "Dino?" Highlight asked, sounding almost offended, "Dino Crocetti? Dean Martin? Pretty much the coolest Terran ever? You know what, let's just go to Frankie for now." Shaking his head, Highlight continued to dig, narrowing his optics in curiosity, "And sorta outta the blue, but I've always wondered -- why do drill tanks have windshields?" Foxfire shrugs at Highlight as best as a quadruped can. "I haven't learned all there is to know about the people of Earth. Sorry." He goes back to digging. Robot T-Rex! grunts, and cranes his head downwards to peer into the tunnel the two drill tanks are carving out. "Hm." he says. He brings one foot up and uses the clawed appendage to push s'more debris out of the way in a way totally unlike a chicken scratching at the door, mainly because chickens won't KILL YOU DEAD. Almost as an afterthought, Grimlock looks over at Highlight and Foxfire. "Me Grimlock dino-BOT. Me BEST one. And Dinobots am best Autobots!" Foxfire thinks about this. "Hey, Grimlock, can I be an Honorary Dinobot? I can pretend I'm a Foxosaurus." Twin Twist's treads chew into the soft metal that makes up Cybertron's underbelly as his twin diamond tipped drills help carve out a tunnel. "NO. You am TAPE. You not Dinobot! Me Grimlock say that WORST IDEA EVER." Foxfire pouts, like only a FOX can. Drill Tank continues along, drills ripping into the ground as they carve further towards Iacon. <> he surmises, stopping before a large mineral sediment ... a Cybertronian equivalent of a rock. Only a really TOUGH and BIG rock. The Wrecker Leader's drills fly forward, impacting with the object with a *SKKKKKKKKKKKKKRECHHHHH* accompanied with sparks flying every which way, resembling a fourth of July sparkler. Backing off, <> Highlight grins at the exchange between Foxfire and everyone's favorite Dinobot before adding in his two cents, "C'mon, Foxfire, can't you let the big guy have something for himself? He's Grimlock, man -- KING! He's like Elvis. But, y'know... Elvis, if he was a dinosaur and routinely threatend to eat you or something." Suddenly, the sparks were beginning to catch Highlight's attention as he gestured over to Grimlock, "Hey, I think you're needed over there, good sir." Robot T-Rex! hn? He glances down the length of the tunnel, and then he grunts out again- at which point he stoops his shoulders and makes his way into the opening- occasionally scraping his frame against the roof and walls, causing sparks to fly randomly! "Hnnnn. Whut you find? Out of me Grimlock way!" Drill Tank 's engine throttles down as he slows his drilling. Drill Tank backs out of the way, transforming with little effort. "Looks ta be ah mineral deposit, never seen 'em this ... big though. Lemme see if'n I can't wedge 'er out first?" he offers, bending down to try and rock the boulder out of position. The Drill Tank shifts and transforms, revealing the Wrecker leader Impactor! Robot T-Rex! hmms- and transforms to his robot mode- having the advantage of THUMBS here. Also: A sword! Grimlock grunts, and thrusts the blazing-hot blade along the edge of the mineral deposit, levering it a bit...until a massive chunk comes loose! Grimlock hmmms- and then grabs hold of it, dragging it back out of the tunnel (and maybe OVER anyone who isn't quick enough to get out of the way!) "Hnf. THERE." he says with a little growl. There's a flurry of moving parts, and Grimlock changes to his robot mode! Drill Tank stops drilling, and with the lightning speed only a Jumpstarter can, transforms. Drill Tank transforms into his Twin Twist mode. "Ya mind bringin' that back ta Debris Grim? I mean, it's kinda pointless ta block tha tunnel with it otherwise." Impactor suggests, glad it's out of the way ... but still acting pissy about his cavern's cleanliness. Twin Twist "Back to digging then Boss?" ask Twin Twist? "Me Grimlock find place for it! Uh. Somewhere." he says- and off Grimlock goes, hauling a boulder with him! This isn't quite as an uncommon sight as one would think. Whirl steps out of the elevator after pushing all of the buttons. His mischief is safe since nobody is hear to see him. "Hey, who left this giant hole in the middle of the room. It could be dangerous!" No response. He looks around for a bit, then shrugs and leaps in feet-first. Highlight is visibly taken aback by the ease at which Grimlock seems to be hauling this boulder. Gracefully moving out of the way, the always-stylish Highlight plants his feet and looks down the tunnel, calling out to Impactor, "We good, sir?! 'Cause, I can keep shoveling, y'know!" "Hold up, we're comin' up on Iahex in another click or two ... keep tha chatter to ah minimum." Impactor gruffs, moving forward through the rubble while trying to guage their location from a hand scanner. "Foxfire, yer tha smallest ... gonna haveta boost ya up ta see if tha coast is all clear." he motions for the cassettebot to come to the 'head of the class'. Foxfire bounds over to Impactor and nods eagerly. "Sure, okay!" Whirl emerges from the tunnel, covered in dirt and scuff-marks. "Hmm, I had no idea I was so scared of the dark!" he announces, then takes up a spot at the edge of the tunnel entrance. "Maybe I'll just wait back here...in case they need reinforcements later. A good general always keeps something in reserve." New Memorial Spaceport This Spaceport is very much like the original spaceport, probably because the plans were copied nearly sketch for sketch from the old Memorial Spaceport. The spaceport's domed ceiling curves high overhead, reinforced with thick armor plating in case of an attack. Style has been sacrificed for security, including ominous AA batteries mounted in the dome's perimeter walls and both interior and exterior scanners. Four pairs of sliding doors are evenly spaced along the southern half of the room, leading to the launching pad for interstellar shuttles. A set of sliding doors leads out to a roadway that curves in two directions, to the west linking up with the Southern Iahex roadway and to the north towards Eastern Iahex and its industrial centers. Used as a means of transportation system between Iahex and Debris, the Railcar might or might not be resting there ... depending on the last trip. A control console to the left of the track can easily be used to recall it though. +railcar to summon the railcar if it is not here. Obvious exits: North leads to Eastern Iahex. West leads to Southern Iahex. Launch leads to Orbit of Cybertron. Impactor punches his drill hand through the last vestige of ground, sending a shower of surface light to penetrate the tunnel's vast darky pathways. "Oh yeah, watch yer optics." he softly intones, forgetting to remind his crew that the sudden exposure might blind them. Reaching out for Foxfire, the Wrecker Leader shoves him through the hole ... although it's going to be a tight fit. "Coast clear?" Foxfire manages to squeeze through the hole. He sniffs the air and then looks around, ears twitching. "I don't see or hear anything," he reports after a moment. Impactor hoists/shooves Foxfire up into the room then, managing to punch down the sides of the hole to accomodate for his much bigger girth. "Alright Foxfire, let's make this fast! Anythin' that ain't bolted down and looks useful, load 'er up. Twist and Joker, I wants ya sittin' down here's as to be loaded up with the supplies. Questions??" he asks, giving Highlight a deathstare particularly. Dreadtread had been hauling aft through through Cybertron's ruins, and city zones alike before finally he'd arrived at Crystal City itself. He had never seen it with his own optics, being quite young and before his hiatus for training away from the front lines he was a rare sight anywhere outside of his 'cage'. Treads moving much more quickly than the man-made counterpart of his alternate mode tear through the streets as he arrives unwittingly in a place currently occupied by Autobot kind. Highlight comically looks behind him, before pointing at himself in a genuinely surprised manner. He clears his throat before answering, raising an eyeridge and trying to sound serious, "You need anything, you got it." Twin Twist says, "The same goes for me Impactor. If Fox so much as smells a Decepticon Tell us and we'll have you back." Foxfire nods and goes about doing as he has been bid, nosing about through various items. Impactor ruffles through some supply crates, tossing every other one down the hole in some sort of Wrecker reckless abandon. "Look out below!" he cautions as an afterthought, still digging through them like a maniac. Weapon's magazines, concussive grenades, steel girders, large oversized bolts, and all other random articles are thrown down as well. Dreadtread had been hauling aft through through Cybertron's ruins, and city zones alike before finally he'd arrived at Crystal City itself. He had never seen it with his own optics, being quite young and before his hiatus for training away from the front lines he was a rare sight anywhere outside of his 'cage'. Treads moving much more quickly than the man-made counterpart of his alternate mode tear through the streets as he arrives unwittingly in a place currently occupied by Autobot kind. With his near-perfect hand-eye coordination, Highlight is finding his rhythm in grabbing and stashing as much of the spare parts and supplies as he can. He even finds enough time to juggle a trio of grenades before effortlessly tossing them into a small compartment in his wrists, humming quietly to himself. He looks over to Twin Twist, keeping his voice down, "Twist, you alright? You got it handled?" Hinder actually managed to catch up with DreadTread way back whereever they were before, having transformed into her tiny cassette mode and mag-locked herself to the tank's side so as to not get left behind. But now after a scarily fast ride she's ready to stop passenging...if only this dunderbrained mech would slow the heck down. Cream colored parts shift and fold, the ferret shrinking into an old school cassette tape. KATHOOOOM! Suddenly, something smashes through the domed ceiling of the spaceport, headed right for Impactor! THWAM! And it is GALVATRON, who just attempted to crush Impactor under his bulky feet. "HELLO, Autobots! Surprised to see me? Hmhahahaha, don't be! You should know by now that we Decepticons will always lie in wait for you, ready to STRIKE at any time, anywhere! Now, let's get on to the business of slaughtering you all!" Combat: Galvatron misses Impactor with his Bare Feet attack! Foxfire detects Dreadtread's presence before Galvatron smashes through the ceiling, which happens before he can call out an alarm. He backs up, away from the Decepticon Overlord, optics wide and glowing fiercely. "Galvatron!" Impactor barely manages to avoid the ceiling collapsing all around him, only because the Decepticon Commander was foolish enough to telegraph his attacks ahead of time. "Alright Bots, this is what we trained fer! Foxfire, down that tunnel ASAP!! Twist, Joker ... I want ya pullin' out right NOW!!" he shouts, backing away towards the large hole in the floor while he fires off a fully charged shoulder cannon shot. "Keep it up Galvatron, I'll put it on yer headstone!" Combat: Impactor sets his defense level to Fearless. Combat: Impactor strikes Galvatron with his Impcannon attack! Hinder is in for one extremely wild ride as Dreadtread continues to burn up the midnight energon on his way toward the source of Galvatron's transmission, which just so happens to be along the path that he was already traveling. Not a moment is wasted, not an instant before the speeding AS90 Braveheart croaks and whines with a violent shifting of its external and internal structure--literally spitting a massive Big Robot into the fray. "Nyyyaaaah!" Dreadtread growls as he throws his weight forward, moving to slam his epauleted shoulder into the Autobot Commando's chassis. The main howitzer cannon slides back into its secured forward placement, and the tank chassis beneath the main howitzer artillery cannon splits in half--opening up to swallow the main weapon and 'cockpit' before closing again over the cannon forming a solid tower shield which masks the majority of the rest of the transformation. Tank treads are sucked into a pair of box-like compartments that rise as a pair into the air upon the back, while the now treadless wheels of the tank press against the ground--forcing the aft end of the tank into the air before hydraulics hiss as they are quickly wrapped in a pair of armored cylinders. Another whirring of mechanical components shifting leads to the fore section of the tank sliding forward to lay flat against the ground as they form into feet while the armored cylinders continue to press into the surface and force the Transformer into a standing position. The tank's main cockpit and turret mount section flips 180 degrees along the y-axis to expose a full faceplated, helmeted head, and the tank grows several meters as the legs and arms stretch to their full length. Lastly, the tower shield is pulled away from the main body by the left hand to reveal the Decepticon Dreadtread. Combat: Dreadtread sets his defense level to Fearless. Combat: Dreadtread strikes Impactor with his Smash attack! Galvatron just smirks as Impactor's shell explodes across his chest. "Put it on my headstone? Oh, you think you're going to kill me? That's *cute.* But not very likely! Especially not after I kill you FIRST!" And then, leaps forward, transforms into his artillery mode, lands twenty meters away from Impactor, and waits for Dreadtread's charge to propel the Wrecker into his line of sight. Once Impactor is within the firing arc of his cannon, Galvatron fires a blinding beam of purple light which, for a brief moment, illuminates everything in the spaceport! Galvatron falls forward, collapsing into himself as he converts into his dreaded artillery mode! S**t just got real! Combat: Galvcannon strikes Impactor with his Galvcannon attack! Cream-colored cassette tape disengages her maglocks the moment DreadTread starts to transform, preferring the risk of going clattering across the floor than getting squished into one of the mech's moving joints. And clattering away she goes, toward a particular tunnel. The moment the little which cassette stops skidding, the ferrety shape bursts up and out of it to look for someplace to take cover. Too many really big shouty people in here for her taste. The cream colored cassette tape opens out and unfolds into the weaselly shape of Decepticon Hinder. Impactor treads away shyly, trying to buy his team time to get enough of a lead. Ultimately, it costs him the majority of his right arm in the Galvcannon. Perhaps the intensity of the attack is over the copyright infringement? Crying out in pure shock and pain, the Wrecker Leader is rococheted off the far wall and bounces dangerously close to the lip of the hole, the ceiling still crumbling above them. "Grr..alvatron, you think that'll put me down? Ha, us Wrr..eckers are built fer punishment!" he loudly declares, picking up a tremendous boulder from the ground and chucking it through the air. Pulling out a pistol, the Wrecker Leader hits it at just the right spot ... sending a shower of rock shrapnel at the two Decepticon antagonists. "Wreck 'n Rr..ule!!" he sputters. Combat: Impactor strikes Galvcannon with his Rock Shrapnel Area attack! Combat: Impactor misses Dreadtread with his Rock Shrapnel Area attack! Stomping his feet into the 'earth' beneath him, Dreadtread spreads his arms out to his sides like a sumo wrestler. Fate has brought him here today to test him against one of the Autobots, and apparently saw fit to give him aide in the form of Galvatron himself. A pity, as he would much prefer facing the foolish peacemonger alone... But, who is he to argue with the great conductor of the universe? Hopping back as far as he can muster with a little assist from his anti-gravs, Dreadtread avoids the shower of rock debris and lands into a crouch before hurriedly transforming into his alternate mode. The howitzer cannon is raised swiftly to point at the sky and a single round is then loosed into the air with hostile intent. Dreadtread's tower shield is brought around in front of him--concealing the bulk of his mass from view as he begins his transformation. SNAP. CLICK. HISS. After laying back, flattening, and compacting what is left is the AS90 Braveheart Self-Propelled Howitzer. Combat: AS90 Braveheart strikes Impactor with his INCOMING! attack! Hinder notices a movement out of the corner of one optic and turns in time to see Foxfire's tail disappearing into a tunnel. Oooh, eeeeenteresting. She bounds after the cassette-bot, curiosity overruling her common sense for the moment. Galvcannon 's artillery mode is simply not agile enough to avoid the spray of shrapnel, which showers Galvatron's body. "You know," Galvatron says, "I'm not certain, but I think there's a Terran joke where a warrior has his arm lopped off, and boasts it is merely a flesh wound." He transforms, his cannon transferring to his arm. "So, how does it go, again? I blast off another of your arms, then you claim that it won't be a problem for you?" Raising his cannon, Galvatron squints a bit, grinning as he aims carefully at Impactor's remaining arm, and fires another powerful blast at it. The artillery cannon's back section snaps apart into two legs, its treads convert to arms, and the main body slides down as GALVATRON rises up before you! Combat: Galvatron strikes Impactor with his Fusion Cannon attack! Combat: Impactor falls to the ground, unconscious. The 'peppering' that Dreadtread delivers is sufficient enough to soften the Wrecker Leader up for what's to follow. Impactor is litterally lifted off the ground and propelled at such a high velocity, such motion of force carried over that his armor begins to crumble upon impact with the wall. Twirling through the air, he knocks hard into the ground ... what's left of his arm, the parts still held on by wires are sent flying through the air. All of Prime's horses and all of Prime's men are gonna have one helluva scavenger hunt on their damn hands if they want to put ole Impacty back together again. Near the lip of the hole again, the Wrecker Leader teeters on the edge ... conciousness leaving him. Before it bids it's final pardon however, Impactor manages to dissappear down into the tunnel's entrance ... while it's caving in! Foxfire pokes his head back out of the tunnel. "Boo!" he exclaims to Hinder. And then he ducks back in before Impactor falls into it. Hinder YEEKS! and skitters away from Foxfire and the tunnel just in time to NOT get flattened by Impactor or the caving in tunnel entrance. Galvatron frowns as his target inexplicably disappears! It doesn't take long for him to connect the dots--Impactor is a drill tank. "Those damnable drill tanks!" he screams, and rushes to where he last saw the Wrecker, but there's nothing there now but the entrance to a collapsed tunnel. "They're underground! Damn those Autobots! They're like... like... tunnel rats! Eating away at the foundation of my Empire from below! Curse them all!" His optics narrow. "Well, they can dig their holes for now--I'll hunt them down and rend them apart, mechanoid by mechanoid, no matter what it takes! Hmhahahahaha!" The treaded vehicle doesn't stick around for much longer once the 'Wrecker' is sufficiently wrecked. There was no reason to for there did not appear to be anyone left on the Autobot side of things to destroy, and Galvatron's destruction would take some time to prepare for... With a loud screeching of treads, the AS90 Braveheart jerks forward from a cloud of smog of its own making before juking around to make tracks out of Crystal City. Hinder peeks out at the maniacally laughing Galvatron from behind a random piece of debris. She can hear DreadTread leaving as insanely fast as he arrived, so she's stuck here with really big stompy crazy-laughing bossman. Not good. Galvatron then turns to the warrior who aided him. "Well done, sol--" He stops himself, however, when he sees that Dreadtread has already departed. Galvatron stares a bit. "--nevermind. Bah! I didn't need his help anyway!"